MONROE - The Monroe Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) Board of Directors Tuesday approved Monroe Main Street's (MMS) 2009 budget and request for $27,500, which is 10 percent more than previous years.
Even so, BID plans to levy $28,600, the same amount as last year, in view of the recent U.S. economic difficulties. The levied amount will allow BID to keep a $9,000 cushion in its account for administrative expenses and unforeseen needs.
The BID board directed President Sherril Kelly to prepare the BID budget for 2009 in time to be submitted to the city by the end of the month.
The MMS Board met Monday to balance its $106,600 budget, $82,500 of which is expected to come equally from BID, the city of Monroe and community support.
At a BID board meeting last month, members hotly debated the issue of where MMS is spending its money.
Last night, MMS Director Barb Nelson presented a spreadsheet of actual expenses for events, promotions and streetscape since 2005, as well as several additional projects initiated in 2007.
Deleted from the 2009 budget is the two-year-old Cinco de Mayo festival and the June Ice Cream Give Away. A surplus supply of Badger State Trail brochures will save reprint costs of $4,000 in 2009.
While two events are cut, others will receive more funding. Concerts on the Square will receive $6,000, up $2,750, and Diva Days will get $2,000, up $500 from 2008. St. Patrick's Day parade will receive $400, up $200.
Chili Fest and Christmas each get an extra $1,000, while the combined budget for Maxwell Street Days and Family Affair on the Square is up $1,500.
MMS's share of funding for the Balloon Rally and Taste of Monroe remains at $1,500.
Sponsorship and participation fees for some events is expected to offset $16,700 of event expenses.
Advertising for 2009 is up significantly to $14,950, more than double BID's general recommendation of $7,000, in anticipation of the downtown streetscape project and concerns that it will deter customers from shopping on the Square.
And while the Square is getting its make-over next year, MMS is cutting its budget for banners, flags, planters and trash cans to only $500. Signage specific to directing traffic around construction to stores is $300 of that budget.
Even so, BID plans to levy $28,600, the same amount as last year, in view of the recent U.S. economic difficulties. The levied amount will allow BID to keep a $9,000 cushion in its account for administrative expenses and unforeseen needs.
The BID board directed President Sherril Kelly to prepare the BID budget for 2009 in time to be submitted to the city by the end of the month.
The MMS Board met Monday to balance its $106,600 budget, $82,500 of which is expected to come equally from BID, the city of Monroe and community support.
At a BID board meeting last month, members hotly debated the issue of where MMS is spending its money.
Last night, MMS Director Barb Nelson presented a spreadsheet of actual expenses for events, promotions and streetscape since 2005, as well as several additional projects initiated in 2007.
Deleted from the 2009 budget is the two-year-old Cinco de Mayo festival and the June Ice Cream Give Away. A surplus supply of Badger State Trail brochures will save reprint costs of $4,000 in 2009.
While two events are cut, others will receive more funding. Concerts on the Square will receive $6,000, up $2,750, and Diva Days will get $2,000, up $500 from 2008. St. Patrick's Day parade will receive $400, up $200.
Chili Fest and Christmas each get an extra $1,000, while the combined budget for Maxwell Street Days and Family Affair on the Square is up $1,500.
MMS's share of funding for the Balloon Rally and Taste of Monroe remains at $1,500.
Sponsorship and participation fees for some events is expected to offset $16,700 of event expenses.
Advertising for 2009 is up significantly to $14,950, more than double BID's general recommendation of $7,000, in anticipation of the downtown streetscape project and concerns that it will deter customers from shopping on the Square.
And while the Square is getting its make-over next year, MMS is cutting its budget for banners, flags, planters and trash cans to only $500. Signage specific to directing traffic around construction to stores is $300 of that budget.